Improvement in ripping-tools



G. D. CLARK.

RIPPING TOOL.

Patented June 6,1877,

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N.PETER$. PHCTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTQN, 9 CI UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE D. CLARK, OF PLAIN VILLE, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT m RIPPING-TOOLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 191,669, dated June 5, 1877; application filed. January 25, 1877.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE D.'OLARK, of

Plainville, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ripping -Tools, of which the following is a specification:

My invention consists of the ripper-blade, composed of two straight parallel guides, set closely together, and having a knife with two converging edges at the junction of said guides, and of the peculiar construction of the handle thereof, all as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an improved ripping-tool which embodies my invention, and Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same.

The blade A is formed of a flat piece of sheetsteel, and attached to the handle B by any suitable means, preferably by rivets. The front end of the blade I provide with two straight companion guides, a I), set parallel to each other, the ends of 'which may be rounded, and they should be set closely together-that is, so near each other as to answer for guides, one upon each side of a single seam. At the junction of the guides a b the blade is ground upon the corner or angle of a grindstone, or other suitable sharpener, so as to form a knife 0, with two converging cutting-edges, as shown in Fig. 1; but the edges of the guides at b, toward their front ends, should be left thick enough to form guides which will not out the thread of a seam, and the guides should be of such length that they will act one upon each side of the seam, to guide the tool at a point forward of the knife 0. One of the guides, a, is made very narrow, so that it may pass be tween two closely-sewed seams.

The operation is as follows, viz: The handle of the tool is grasped by the thumb and forefinger of the operator, and the guides at b arerun in between the thicknesses of cloth in which the seam is, one guide being close against the seam at one side, andthe other guide close against said seam at the other side,

and forced along until the knife 0 strikes the thread. The thread bottom of the converging edges of the knife 0,

will center itself in the and bring the tool central with the seam at that point, while the guides, one acting in contact with each side of the seam at apoint forward of the knife 0, will center the tool at said point. The tool being thus centered at two different points along the line of the seam, it will readily follow said seam, the knife cutting the threads thereof so fast as it is forced against them with sufficient power. The relative position of the tool and the seam is represented by the broken lines in Fig. l, in which d designates the seam, and the other broken lines designate the outlines of the cloth in which the seam is sewed.

The outer edge of the guide b I bring to a knife-edge, for the purpose of forming it into a small ordinary knife-blade, which feature, however, may be dispensed with, if desired, withoutohanging the general character of the tool for other purposes.

The handle B, 1 form of sheet metal, with one end doubled over upon the other, and the blade A riveted between them, as shown in Fig. 2. The edges of this metal handle, for the greater portion of its length, I strike in dies to slightly roughen said edges, as shown in both figures of the drawing, to avoid the necessity of grasping the handle with an uncomfortable gripe, in order that it may not slip endwise through the hands of the operator when in use.

I claim as my invention 1. The ripping-blade A, composed of two straight parallel guides, at b, set closely together, and having a knife with two converging cutting-edges at the junction of said guides, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. A ripping-tool adapted for operation by an endwise pressure, when provided with a smooth-sided sheet-metal handle, B, slightly roughened at its thin edges, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

GEORGE D. CLARK.

Witnesses WILLIAM L. OoWLEs, A. N. CLARK. 

